Out of the Mouth of Babes

My children constantly amaze me at how in tune to God they are, even when I think they are drifting.  We'll be going on our merry way through life when they will say something off the cuff that shows some pretty deep thinking.  They've been like this since they were little.

(Side note:  This photo makes me laugh.  He always gets into "firefighter" serious mode when I take his photo)

When my children were small we worked in an inner city ministry in one of the most densely populated cities in the United States.  Our ministry rented space from the local YMCA and at that time, the boys were 5 and 4.  There were people who lived in the upstairs portion of the YMCA and many struggled with drug and alcohol abuse or mental issues.

One night, after leaving the building, I had Stephen on one side of me and Nathan on the other and we rounded the corner of the building.  One of the residents was there, obviously under the influence of some narcotic and screaming obscenities.  She was also urinating on the sidewalk.  I grabbed both boys by the hand, jumped over the stream of urine and started fuming.  I dragged them to the car with Dan and started fussing to him as we drove away.  I told him that I was going to call the director of the YMCA in the morning and on and on I went.

Until I heard a small voice from the back seat pipe up and say, "Mommy, does that lady know Jesus?"  Nathan then asked me why she was shouting and screaming.  I told him she was sick.  I then continued to talk to Dan.

About 5 minutes went by and then Nathan said, "Can we pray for her?"  And that is exactly what we did; all of us.  It took my little 5 year old to remind me why we were there.  He reminded me of what we had been called to do.

A few months ago, Emily was in her room crying.  When I asked her what was the matter, she told me she was upset because she learned of a boy in her old school who had a disability and sat alone at lunch every day.  She had told another girl at church she should sit with him and was upset that no one wanted to and because she goes to a different school now couldn't be a friend to this young man.  Her compassion for the outcasts, misfits or disabled is amazing to me.



Just recently, I was having a day of feeling discouraged and was talking to Dan.  We were on a hike with Emily and Stephen and I remember saying to Dan, "Maybe we should just quit the ministry."  Stephen then said to us, "Why would you do that?"  "God called you to ministry and walking away from it wouldn't be following what He called you to do!" 

I love that my children are hearing from God.  They don't always show it and often I'll feel discouraged that they seem to be drifting.  Yet, they'll pop out with these type of statements and I realize how in tune they are to Him and how often God uses my children to teach deep truths.